On Saturday 13th July, staff from medical technology company, SARD, joined friends and family to form a team of 11 to take on Gung-Ho! the world’s biggest inflatable 5km run to raise money for the Kent and Medway Medical School.  They have selected KMMS as their Charity of the Year and this is one of  a number of fundraising initiatives they are taking part in to raise £5,000 for this cause.  Through this event they have so far raised £475 (including Gift Aid) and would be thrilled if you would consider supporting them through their JustGiving page.

Two of the team tackling Gung-Ho! were current University of Kent students Jordan Montford-Robinson (1st year Computer Science student) and Ash Barton (2nd year Computing with a year in industry student) who are currently on a work placement with SARD. Of their experience, Jordan said: “I am currently on a summer placement with SARD and when they asked for people to join their team for Gung-Ho! I jumped at the chance.  It was a great opportunity to get to know my colleagues better, take part in a personal challenge and support the extremely important work of the Kent and Medway Medical School.  This is a great project which will be an asset to the University of Kent, Canterbury Christ Church University, our local community and the county of Kent.  I am proud to play a part in fundraising for this cause and urge others to support it too.”

We would like to thank SARD for their support and wish them well for their future events.

If you would like to support KMMS by taking part in a sponsored event, please contact Katie Barnsdale (Community Fundraising Intern).

The latest instalment of Newton Talks, a podcast project by Dr James Newton, Lecturer in Media Studies, has just been published. The episode features Dr Dieter Declerq, Lecturer in Film and Media Studies in the School of Arts.

In the podcast series, James discusses topics (mostly) related to cinema, television, and culture.

In this episode, James and Dieter discuss Dieter’s research on satire, and how his interest in the topic began by watching The Simpsons whilst growing up in Belgium. James and Dieter discuss satire’s limitations and paradoxes, as well as the distinctions between satire and mockery. The podcast also covers Dieter’s new research on satire and mental health.

‘[The Simpsons] was television about television. It was mocking other television; it was quite clever about being different from other kinds of television’, says Dieter. ‘I think, for a lot of reasons it’s an important television show. For me it’s because of the satirical worldview, going against the establishment at the time. I think for a teenager who’s in a Catholic school in Belgium, not having a very good time, that was really important’.

To listen to the episode, and others in the series, please see the page here.

In the latest episode of the Nostalgia podcast series, Dr Chris Deacy, Reader in Theology and Religious Studies in the Department of Religious Studies, speaks to Peter Stanfield, Professor of Film and Media in the School of Arts.

Peter works in American popular cinema from the 1930s through to the 1970s, and we learn why it was that the 50s resonated in the way it did in later films, including the rise of Teddy Boys in the early 70s.

The pair also discuss: singing cowboys; American popular cinema; photographs and memories; growing up in Hemel Hempstead; New Musical Express; seeing Eric Clapton, the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin on stage; the emerging punk scene; sitting next to Nick Cave at the cinema; how there is no separation between being a fan and being a researcher; why Peter doesn’t have a longing to return to his teenage years; the relationship between nostalgia and repetition; and why Peter has never had the ambition to be a filmmaker.

The Centre for English and World Languages has two spare tickets for the 2pm performance of As You Like It at the Globe Theatre (Lower Gallery) on 22 August.

Face value is £47. If you would like the tickets, please email englishshortcourses@kent.ac.uk by 5pm on 31 July and make us an offer. 

Dr Patty Baker, Senior Lecturer in Classical & Archaeological Studies, was invited to take part in the Summer School for Greek and Latin at University College London (UCL) to speak at a round table session about ‘Disability in Antiquity’.

Patty spoke about conceptions of mental disability or learning disability, and how this topic can be used as a prompt for difficult classroom discussions about modern issues of equity and inclusion for those who identify as such.

The round table session was made up of a panel of four experts who research the topic of disability in the past. Patty’s talk explored how adults with mental impairments were defined and treated in the Greco-Roman world, arguing that they were seen as incomplete adults and cared for as if they were children. The second part of her talk explained how information about disability in the ancient world can be used as a platform to evoke difficult classroom discussions in consideration of modern issues related to disability rights.

Patty described the event by saying: ‘The summer school was a mix of academics and students from around the world. Students focused on translating Homer in the morning and early afternoon and then attended an afternoon round-table on topics covered in their reading. The event led to a lively discussion between the audience and the panelists.’

Catriona Blackburn, currently studying on the MA in Film with Practice, has had her short film The Cracks selected for submission to five film festivals: One-Reeler Short Film Competition, the WRPN Women’s International Film Festival, Lisbon Film Rendezvous, Lift-Off Global Network Sessions, and KinoDUEL International Film Festival. In addition, Catriona’s film has been selected as a semi-finalist at Lisbon Film Rendezvous and for the Award of Excellence at One-Reeler Short Film Festival.

The Cracks follows the emotional journey of Anna (Katherine Hall) as she copes with a violation; of her body, of her trust, and of her mind. As the cracks begin to show, only her little love, Tio, can save her from total self-destruction.

Catriona’s time at Kent started in 2011, first studying a BSc (Hons) in Anthropology, for which she received first-class honours. After a year of working with academics within the university and beyond as a visual anthropologist, Catriona came back to Kent to study for an MA in Film with Practice in the School of Arts.

Catriona says: ‘It was an incredible learning experience, our lecturers always discussed with a level and respect and humility that meant our opinions felt recognised and relevant. I have always felt that Kent offered me a freedom to speak my mind and explore my creativity. I felt I had found my niche in Visual Anthropology after my undergraduate studies, but with the support of the School of Arts, in particular my supervisor for the final production Richard Misek, and technician Daniel Haywood, I see many more opportunities for myself in the future. Completing this course has given me confidence in my abilities not only as an independent film maker but as a producer and distributor. I cannot quite believe how much positive feedback my first fiction film has received, and before it has even been graded!’

What’s next for Catriona? ‘I plan to complete my current projects this coming year; ‘Ableism in Academia’, ‘Embodied Reflection’ with Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance, and ‘Exploring Embodied Academic Identity through creative research methods’. Moving forward I hope to have the opportunity to produce films and documentaries, find funding for an experimental short using puppetry to speak about bereavement. I also have plans to make a feature documentary, showcasing the lack of support for new mothers and the onus on the mother’s responsibility within pregnancy and through to new motherhood, by following a group of pregnant women from different socio-economic backgrounds through into new motherhood’.

More of Catriona’s work can be viewed on her website: www.catrionablackburn.com

More information about The Cracks can be found here.

Dr Oliver Double, Reader in the Department of Drama and Theatre, was referenced by journalist Alan Beattie in the Financial Times last Saturday, 20 July 2019.

The article, entitled ‘Calling Boris Johnson a Clown is Unfair to Clowns’, argues that to compare the celebrity politician to a clown does a disservice to the clowning profession, which is an art form requiring skill and integrity.

The article reports Olly’s observation that ‘Johnson has carefully developed a persona as would a stand-up comic, complete with performative habit of constantly dishevelling his hair. But instead of using it simply to get laughs, he employs it to further his career.’

To read the full article (subscription required), please see the page here.

Once again, congratulations to the Kent Hospitality Housekeeping department for winning two awards at the British Association of Cleaning in Higher Education (BACHE) Awards on the 8 and 9 July at Keele University.

Continuing their winning streak, the team were awarded the ‘Best Practice Award 2019’ at this year’s ceremony. The award recognised new housekeeping initiatives that helped maximise staff skills. This included producing their own best practice training videos, which have been utilised across the department.

Making the event a double win, Ratna Rai won the ‘Cleaning Operative of the Year Award 2019’. Ratna, who works as a Domestic Assistant in Park Wood, was recognised for her consistently high standards of cleaning and for improving the student experience by building positive relationships with Kent students.

Gary Sayles, Executive Housekeeping Manager, Kent Hospitality said: “we are absolutely thrilled at our success at the BACHE Awards. To be recognised again by a national association for our team’s consistent hard work is fantastic, and special congratulations are also due to Ratna on winning the Cleaning Operative award. As a team we are proud to deliver a consistently high standard of service here at the University of Kent.”

The awards recognise the importance of professional cleaning activities in higher education institutions. BACHE aims to standardise training for cleaning staff, improve cleaning standards, and professionalise the delivery of cleaning and associated services on campus.